0-10V Fluorescent / LED Dimmers

What is 0-10V Dimming? Used as an early fluorescent dimming system and still used today, 0-10V dimming has been adapted to become a reliable LED dimming control protocol. 0-10 V is one of the earliest and simplest electronic lighting control signaling systems; simply put, the control signal is a DC voltage that varies between zero and ten volts. The controlled lighting should scale its output so that at 10 V, the controlled light should be at 100% of its potential output, and at 0 V it should at the lowest possible dimming level.

What should I look for when picking a 0-10V controller? Often, dimming ballasts and dimming LED power supplies use 0-10V control signals to control dimming functions. In many cases, the dimming range of the power supply or ballast is limited. If the light output can only be dimmed from 100% down to 10%, there must be a switch or relay available to kill power to the system and turn the light completely off. Most 0-10V controllers offer either a built-in line voltage relay or an external line voltage relay. Depending on the application, these options should be considered.